Oakland A's Daric Barton, Brandon Moss both figure to be regulars

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It's unusual for a team to carry two left-handed-hitting starting first basemen, but the A's are leaning heavily toward doing it.

Daric Barton likely will get most of the playing time on defense. Brandon Moss, who was the regular at first for most of the 2013 season, will mostly be the designated hitter, although both men are likely to take a seat on the bench against left-handed pitching.

The arrangement will cause alterations to the A's roster to start the season. John Jaso, who might otherwise be the D.H. since the A's have better defensive options at catcher, will wind up doing the bulk of the catching. Jaso, a left-handed hitter, will split time with Derek Norris, who is right-handed.

And fellow lefty-hitting catcher Stephen Vogt, who is having one of the best springs of any of the A's, will start the season in the minor leagues.

The A's brain trust is in accord on most things, but this situation isn't one of them. There is a preponderance of support for Barton, whose high on-base percentage and good glove work offsets for his boosters the fact that he doesn't hit for much power. And first base is a power position throughout most of baseball.

But there also is heavy lobbying for having the team go with Moss and his power at first base, using Jaso at D.H. and opening a spot on the roster for Vogt.

The debate is likely to go down to opening day, and even beyond.

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Outside the organization, multiple scouts following the A's say the three-catcher setup seems to be a better use of the A's assets than the two first basemen. That suggests using Moss, who hit 30 homers last year and struck out 140 times, at first base and Vogt/Norris behind the plate is a better defensive combination than Barton with Jaso/Norris.

Barton is a good defensive first baseman, but Moss is, too. At the same time, Vogt is, as Jaso said Monday "a guy who definitely deserves to make the team." The only way it would seem that could happen would be opening up a roster spot with a trade, going with six relievers instead of seven, going with just one backup infielder or going with one first baseman.

None of those options seems to taste quite right to the A's front office, which is why Vogt seems likely to head to Sacramento when the final roster cuts are made this weekend in the Bay Area.

Barton has had a nice spring offensively. Before going hitless in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers Monday, he carried a .296 batting average, but with no extra-base hits. He also had nine walks and had been hit by a pitch, leading to a .486 on-base percentage, which is something the A's value highly.

This spring has been a major about-face for Barton, who was repeatedly designated for assignment last year when it seemed his career in Oakland had been played out. But injuries in the outfield and behind the plate led to Moss moving to the outfield for a while. Jaso missed the last two months with a concussion. And Barton thrived.

Called up Aug. 26, Barton hit .301 the rest of the way while posting a .381 on-base percentage. He's always been more of an on-base machine than a run producer, but over those 29 games he actually had more RBIs (13) than walks (12).

The knock on him in the past was that he was too passive at the plate, too willing to wait for walks and not going to the plate with the idea of driving in runs, but he showed new aggression last September. It's carried over to this spring.

"I came here this spring to have fun, and I've done that,'' Barton said. "I'm more aggressive now. When they throw a strike, I'm swinging.''

Moss has been swinging, too. He didn't play Monday, but has a .389 average this spring with three homers. Vogt is at .357 with three homers and is tied for the club lead with 12 RBIs. Jaso, who drove in the first Oakland run on Monday, is at .279 with a dozen RBIs. And Norris, picking up from a big second half last year (.333 average, 400 on-base percentage), is at .400 with three homers and 10 RBIs.

There is plenty of offensive potential there. The question now is whether or not the A's can find the best combination at first base and behind the plate.

Sean Murphy, who'd never been in a big league camp before Monday, was called over from the A's minor leagues and started against the Rangers. "We certainly know who he is now,'' manager Bob Melvin said after the 25-year-old right-hander shut out a strong Texas lineup on one hit for 4﻿1/3 innings.

Nick Punto, starting at shortstop, was lifted from the game after two innings with a hamstring strain. The A's said the move was precautionary and the strain mild.

Dan Straily pitched in a minor league game rather than face an A.L. West foe in the Rangers. He allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in 5﻿2/3 innings. He threw 89 pitches and in the first four innings surrendered one run and just four hits.

In the same minor league game, outfielder Craig Gentry went 3-for-5 with a triple. Sean Doolittle and Luke Gregerson each pitched scoreless relief and closer Jim Johnson allowed two unearned runs.